MUN INSTRUCTED TO CALL URGENT MEETING OF THE PUBLIC TO DEBATE URGENT MENTAL HEALTH CUTS! # TRUST RESPONSE#


Manchester User Network  

This cut will devastate services!

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us on:
on: munreporter!

                                                 25% CUT TO VITAL

COMMUNITY

MENTAL HEALTH
SERVICES

Meeting

6pm Wednesday  7th  Dec.

Methodist
Hall

Oldham St,M/cr.

MUN appeal to users, health

 staff and the
public to stop these dangerous
cuts now. Speaker Karen Reissmann – UNISON National executive.

  • If this massive cut of 46 members of staff (the equivalent of 5 teams of care coordinators) is allowed to go ahead it will decimate a service already operating at an unsafe level. It will affect the health, safety and futures of service users and their families.

  • It will mean service users will never access the support they need to be able to rebuild their lives .

  • It will mean services are withdrawn or not provided to people with substantial need.  Manchester mental health services are already failing and should have double the resources for the level of need .

  • Manchester Mental health trust are aware of the risks but have been prepared to implement these cuts calling them improvements in a wholly dishonest way.

  • Manchester mental health trust have failed in their duty to carry out a risk assessment or to describe how this reduction will impact on our service users and their families .

  • If these cuts were implemented in any other area of health there would be an outcry, and yet mental health conditions can be devastating for people and their families and friends.

  • MUN DEMANDS that MMHSCT immediately withdraws this threat and looks honestly with service users and carers at how services and resources are increased to begin to meet demand. 

Please speak out and come to the meeting….

Manchester User Network is independent to avoid a
conflict of interest and relies wholly on your support. To donate or join please contact Paul Reed on 07748115989. 

Manchester Mental Health & Social Care Trust. Respond to this Issue with the following statement, MUN is happy to publish their response:-  

Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust has engaged extensively with service user and carer groups across Manchester to discuss the review and has had some challenging but productive discussions. Service users have expressed frustration that some areas of service do not work for them and have suggested improvements. We agree that changes are required. These changes are part of the Community Service Review (CSR) to ensure that support for service users is more flexible and better meets their needs.

•The proposals will not reduce the overall level of service, as we have already made clear, and there is absolutely no evidence that the service is already operating at an unsafe level. In fact the Care Quality Commission (CQC) recently singled the Trust’s Community Services out as some of the best in England.

•As with all public sector bodies in the current economic climate the Trust is required to make savings by improving the efficiency of services. Specifically, we are required to make £30 million of savings over the next five years and this makes changes to services unavoidable. In this context we need to do the best with what we have got and having an open, honest and productive dialogue with our stakeholders is the best way to do this.

•Many of the comments made in the article are misleading and inaccurate. We are disappointed that MUN did not engage with the Trust beforehand or respond to requests for meetings as we feel that had they done so these misunderstandings could have been avoided.

Patrick Cahoon

Associate Director – Service User and Carer Engagement

Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust

Chorlton House

70 Manchester Road

Chorlton-cum-Hardy

Manchester

M21 9UN.

Tel:       (0161) 882 1103.

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